What house rules are
The core of Hong Kong mahjong is the same everywhere: four sets and a pair, chow, pong and kong, scored in faan. Tables differ on the details, such as how many faan a win needs, what the discarder pays and how flowers count. Agree on them before you start and there's nothing to argue about later.
Mahjong House's standard rules are a 3-faan minimum, a 10-faan cap, 全銃, half-spicy, the no-flower and full-flower-set bonuses on, flowers not affecting a concealed hand, one winner per discard, and all chows needing a two-sided wait. Online Quick Match and Ranked always use them; Solo Practice and Play with Friends let you change each one.
Minimum faan: 0, 1 or 3
Minimum Faan is the fewest faan a hand needs to win. Mahjong House offers 0, 1 or 3; the standard is 3.
- 3 faan: a chicken hand usually needs a concealed self-draw with no flowers.
- 1 faan: any hand with 1 faan wins, such as a concealed hand on a discard. Good for beginners.
- 0 faan: any complete hand wins, even a chicken hand on a discard.
Why a complete hand sometimes can't win, and which faan add up, is in the 3-faan minimum.
Faan cap: 10 or 13
The Faan Cap is the most a hand can score; reaching it is a limit. The standard is 10. With 13, limit hands are worth 13 and ordinary hands can score 11 to 13. Which hands are limits is in limit hands.
Payment: 全銃, 半銃 or discarder only
Payment only changes a win on a discard; on a self-draw the three others always pay one unit each. For a 3-faan win on a discard (one unit is 4):
| Payment | Discarder pays | Each other player pays | Winner receives |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full Responsibility, 全銃 (standard) | 12 (three units) | 0 | 12 |
| Half Responsibility, 半銃 | 8 (two units) | 4 (one unit) | 16 |
| Discarder Only | 8 (two units) | 0 | 8 |
Under 全銃, feeding a win costs the most, so defence matters more (see defence). What everyone pays at each faan is in the payout table.
Escalation: half-spicy or spicy
Escalation turns faan into points. The standard half-spicy (半辣上) doubles every two faan from 4; spicy (辣辣上) doubles every faan from 4, so big hands are worth far more.
| Faan | Half-spicy: one unit | Spicy: one unit |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | 4 | 4 |
| 5 | 12 | 16 |
| 7 | 24 | 64 |
| 10 | 64 | 512 |
Every value from 0 to 13 faan is in the payout table. Scores in Mahjong House are points (jade) with no money value.
Flower rules
Three House Rules settings are about flowers and seasons:
- No-Flower Bonus (standard: on): 1 faan for winning with no flowers or seasons. Turned off, a concealed self-drawn chicken hand is only 2 faan, and can't win under the 3-faan minimum.
- Full Flower Set (standard: on): all four flowers or all four seasons are 2 faan. Turned off, a full set scores only its seat tile, 1 faan.
- Bonus Tiles Void Concealed Hand (standard: off): turned on, holding any flower or season loses the 1 faan for a concealed hand.
Seat flowers and full sets are in the faan table.
Multiple winners on one discard
When two or more players can win on the same tile:
- One winner (standard, 截糊): only the first player after the discarder in turn order wins.
- Multiple Winners on One Discard (一炮多響, a House Rules option): everyone who calls the win wins; each winner's faan are counted separately and the discarder pays each one.
Robbing a kong works the same way. The full claim order is in claiming priority.
All chows needs a two-sided wait
In the standard rules, all chows scores its 1 faan only when won on a two-sided wait; a pair, middle or edge wait doesn't count. Turn off All Chows Needs a Two-Sided Wait and four chows won on any wait score all chows. The other conditions are in winning hands.
How to set house rules in Mahjong House
- Solo Practice: on the home screen, choose Solo Practice, then Start a New Game, and set each rule on the House Rules step.
- Play with Friends: choose Create a Room; the host sets the House Rules step, with the same choices as Solo Practice.
- Online Quick Match and Ranked: always the standard rules, so everyone plays the same game.
Want to try a setting? Start a Solo Practice game in your browser, free and with nothing to download:
Choosing rules with friends
Everyone in a Play with Friends room can see its house rules before the game and after it, so you can agree on them before you start. A few suggestions:
- With a beginner at the table, start at a 1-faan minimum so wins come more easily, then move up to 3.
- To play the same game as online, keep every rule standard.
- Not sure how 全銃 and 半銃 pay? Check the payout table first.
Making a room, inviting friends and filling seats with computer players is in mahjong with friends. Common variations Mahjong House doesn't offer, such as seven pairs, are in the rules.
